Sunday, September 29, 2013

Elton John missing John Lennon

 What happened here
As the New York sunset disappeared
I found an empty garden among the flagstones there
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And now it all looks strange
It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain
 
It's a proven fact that John Lennon and Sir Elton John are two artist that have changed the world with their music and their message.
Madison Square
It's no secret that Elton John and John Lennon had a close friendship due to the fact that in 1974  John Lennon can be heard on the B-Side of Sir Elton John's "One Day At A Time" to return the favor Elton John played on Lennon's "Whatever Gets You thru The Night". Later that year on November 28, 1974 Elton John was preforming a concert when John Lennon joined in preforming two Beatles numbers; "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and then with "Whatever Gets you Through The Night".  It was Lennon's last big performance before his assassination on December 8, 1980.Also, Sir Elton is god father to John's second son, Sean. After the awful murder of the beloved John Lennon, Elton John wrote "Empty Garden( Hey Hey Johnny)" for his good friend and has recently spoke out with Entertainment Weekly about his love for his good friend and ex-Beatle, John Lennon.

" I don't look back when I'm playing that song - if I see the footage of John, I get choked up and it's too hard to get through the song. I miss him so much. He was a force of nature, and you don't get many of those. And you sure as hell miss them when they leave."



The song is Elton shouting "Hey Hey Johnny, Can't you come out to play in your empty garden" and about Elton knocking at his door with no reply. When preforming this at concerts he has to look the audience the whole time or else he fears he'll burst out into tears and can't go on. Just shows you how big of an impact John Lennon has on not only fans but on other musicians. He will be forever known and loved and remembered for the ways he's changed this world. Rest in Peace John Lennon.

Johnny can't you come out to play in your empty garden
"I don't look back when I'm playing that song - if I see the footage of John, I get choked up and it's too hard to get through the song," he told Entertainment Weekly ahead of upcoming residency at Las Vegas' Caesars Palace. "I miss him so much. He was a force of nature, and you don't get many of those. And you sure as hell miss them when they leave."
Read more at http://www.gigwise.com/news/84531/sir-elton-john-says-i-just-miss-john-lennon-so-much#p6hPrx4kyb0mYPcq.99
"I don't look back when I'm playing that song - if I see the footage of John, I get choked up and it's too hard to get through the song," he told Entertainment Weekly ahead of upcoming residency at Las Vegas' Caesars Palace. "I miss him so much. He was a force of nature, and you don't get many of those. And you sure as hell miss them when they leave."
Read more at http://www.gigwise.com/news/84531/sir-elton-john-says-i-just-miss-john-lennon-so-much#p6hPrx4kyb0mYPcq.99

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Paul McCartney on Jimmy Kimmel

"15 songs from @PaulMcCartney tonight might have been the greatest thing ever" -Jimmy Kimmel via Twitter (@JimmyKimmel)


Last night, September 23, Paul McCartney preformed a free concert on Hollywood Boulevard for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".  You could of tuned in to "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last night to see Sir Paul McCartney preform 15 songs including;
  • Magical Mystery Tour
  • Save Us
  • Junior's Farm
  • Jet
  • New
  • Lady Madonna
  • Birthday
  • Another Day
  • Everybody Out There
  • Obla-De Obla-Da
  • Band On The Run
  •  Back in the U.S.S.R
  • Day Tripper
  • Let It Be
  • Hey Jude

A total of 10,000 audience members were on the shut-down Hollywood Boulevard to hear the great ex-Beatle. It's also been released yesterday that Paul has come out with the final cover for his NEW album as well as tracklisting for the deluxe version. Both standard and deluxe albums will include;
  1. Save Us
  2. Alligator
  3. On My Way To Work
  4. Queenie Eye
  5. Early Days
  6. New
  7. Appreciate
  8. Everybody Out There
  9. Hosanna
  10. I Can Bet
  11. Looking At Her
  12. Road
The Deluxe features bonus track:
  1. Turned Out
  2. Get Me Out Of Here
McCartney has already preformed three songs, "Save Us", "New" and "Everybody Out There" from the new album on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and last weekend at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas. 

It's said on PaulMcCartney.com :

Artwork information:
NEW album cover inspired by Dan Flavin with special thanks to Stephen Flavin
Logo and cover concept: Rebecca and Mike
Consultancy and design: YES
Cover Image: Ben Ib



Monday, September 23, 2013

The Cavern Walk for Sale


 "In those old Cavern days, half the thing was just ad lib, what you’d call comedy. We just used to mess about, jump into the audience, do anything."-John Lennon

It was Wednesday January 16, 1957 when the doors to The Cavern Club was opened on 10 Mathew Street, Liverpool. From there this warehouse cellar had turned into a the place to be in the late 50s and 60s filled with top Liverpool acts including The Beatles.
The Quarrymen is believed to have had their first gig at the iconic venue on August 8, 1957.
"Skiffle was a breeding ground for musicians - one or two of them became jazz musicians, but more ended up doing rock 'n' roll. I knew John Lennon quite well as we lived in the same area: he lived 400 yards up the road from me. He was 16 and arrogant and hadn't got a clue, but that was John Lennon." - Alan Sytner, The Cavern Club owner
(Left To Right) Pete Best, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon
 The Quarrymen were John Lennon's first band with Colin Hanton (drums), Pete Shotton (washboard), Eric Griffiths (lead guitar), Rod Davis (banjo), Bill Smith (tea chest bass), Len Garry (bass), and Nigel Whalley as manager. Later on July 6,1957 Paul McCartney joined the band after a mutual friend of Lennon and his, Ivan Vaughan introduced the two at St. Peter's Church Fete. But during the first preformance at The Cavern McCartney was absent due to Boy Scout Camp.

"We did some skiffle numbers to start off with at the Cavern but we also did rock 'n' roll. John Lennon was passed a note and he said to the audience, 'We've had a request'. He opened it up and it was Alan Sytner saying, 'Cut out the bloody rock 'n' roll.'"- Colin Hanton
The Beatles with Ringo Starr
George Harrison joined the group in 1958 and later in 1961 The Quarrymen fell apart leaving just Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and new drummer Pete Best to preform at The Cavern Club. Each gig earning about £3, 15 shillings. 

In 1973 The Cavern was knocked down and ordered to be closed for a rail development project in Liverpool. in 1984 Tommy Smith, a Liverpool football player bought the property and built a new Cavern Club a few feet away from the old entrance (you can visit Mathew Street today and see the original entrance and the rebuilt Cavern). The club was built with a deeper underground from the original and added 15,000 bricks from the original club saved from demolition. Once again in 1989 the club was closed due to financial problems but was soon reopened in 1991 by two locals who still own the club today. The club is still filled with live musicians every night and museum sections filled with Beatles memorabilia and more. 

It's been announced that the Cavern Walks Shopping Centre in the centre of the city which has recently been put on the market for a guide price of £ 1million. The Cavern itself is not up for auction, as said on The Caverns website
The Cavern Club would like to clarify the misleading features that have recently appeared in The Times and New Musical Express (NME); The operational business of the Cavern Club is not up for sale by auction.
Cavern Walks is to be auctioned. It comprises 10 floors, with the ground floor offering the boutique-style shopping centre of 23 retail units, including high profile tenants like Vivienne Westwood and Cricket.
The upper floors provide 80,088 sq ft of office accommodation.
The Cavern Cub is located in the basement of the building.
Dave Jones
Director
Cavern City Tours
McCartney Rocking The Cavern

Friday, September 20, 2013

Beatles For Sale

 "Recording Beatles For Sale didn't take long. Basically it was our stage show, with some new songs." - Paul McCartney

Two months after their release of A Hard Days Night, On August 11, 1964 The Beatles stepped into the recording studio at Abbey Road, Studio 2 to start their fourth album, Beatles For Sale.

Recording the album was right in the height of Beatlemania, they had already conquered Europe, landed in America, came out with their first motion picture,countless interviews, been on the radio, television, and had already had their world tour. Due to The Beatles phenomenon it was difficult to write around their busy schedules that the band found themselves doing old covers and early and new Lennon-McCartney songs from The Cavern era.
"They were rather war-weary during Beatles for Sale. One must remember that they'd been battered like mad throughout '64, and much of '63. Success is a wonderful thing, but it is very, very tiring. They were always on the go. Beatles For Sale doesn't appeal to me very much now, it's not one of their most memorable ones. They perked up again after that."- George Martin
The recording for Beatles For Sale took seven days from a range of August through October (26). The start of recording being on August 11, then again on the 14th before The Beatles left for their US and Canada Tour.

The album included the following tracks:
  1. No Reply (Lennon-McCartney)
  2. I'm A Loser (Lennon- McCartney)
  3. Baby's In Black (Lennon- McCartney)
  4. Rock And Roll Music (Chuck Berry)
  5. I'll Follow The Sun (Lennon- McCartney)
  6. Mr. Moonlight ( Otis Johnson- Roy Lee Johnson)
  7. Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! (Jerry Leiber- Richard Wayne Penniman- Mike Stoller)
  8. Eight Days A Week (Lennon-McCartney)
  9. Words of Love (Buddy Holly)
  10. Honey Don't (Carl Perkins)
  11. Every Little Thing (Lennon- McCartney)
  12. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party (Lennon- McCartney)
  13. What You're Doing (Lennon- McCartney)
  14. Everybody's Trying To be My Baby (Carl Perkins)
  On August 28, 1964 The Beatles met Bob Dylan who not only introduced them to drugs like marijuana but influenced them with his hard-core folk styling music.
"I'm A Loser is me in my Dylan period, because the word 'clown' is in it. I objected to the word 'clown', because that was always artsy-fartsy, but Dylan had used it so I thought it was all right, and it rhymed with whatever I was doing."- John Lennon
Like Dylan's story telling styles, Lennon's "No Reply"  follows that path with a heartbreaking, personal loss story through song.  But not only does Beatles For Sale contain Dylan based songs and new songs like "Eight Days A Week" it also included covers of Buddy Holly's "Words of Love",  Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music", two Carl Perkins with George's "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" and Ringo's take on "Honey Don't".
"We all knew Honey Don't; it was one of those songs that every band in Liverpool played. I used to love country music and country rock; I'd had my own show with Rory Storm, when I would do five or six numbers. So singing and performing wasn't new to me; it was a case of finding a vehicle for me with The Beatles. That's why we did it on Beatles For Sale. It was comfortable. And I was finally getting one track on a record: my little featured spot."- Ringo Starr
Beatles For Sale was the first album that The Beatles showed interest and attended mixing sessions, which later led to The Beatles playing roles in the mixing process in future years. But up to this point the mixing has been all done by George Martin and his engineers.


It's a proven fact that The Beatles changed music and has shook this world and shaped it in many ways. The Beatles define music. Beatles For Sale places history in which it was the first time that a song started wit ha fade-in introduction with "Eight Days A Week" and "Every Little Thing" is the first song ever to feature multi-tracked bass guitar. It also featured The Beatles using new instruments like George's African drum on "Mr. Moonlight", Paul McCartney Hammond Organ, and Ringo Starr's timpani which can be easily identified in "Every Little Thing"

"Our records were progressing. We'd started out like anyone spending their first time in a studio - nervous and naive and looking for success. By this time we'd had loads of hits and a few tours and were becoming more relaxed with ourselves, and more comfortable in the studio. And the music was getting better.
For this album we rehearsed only the new ones. Songs like Honey Don't and Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, we'd played live so often that we only had to get a sound on them and do them. But with songs like Baby's In Black, we had to learn and rehearse them. We were beginning to do a little overdubbing, too, probably a four-track. And George Martin would suggest some changes; not too many, but he was always an integral part of it."- George Harrison
There was 500,000 orders placed in advanced for the album and by the time the album was released the order had gone up to 750,000 which is the highest number of advanced orders received for an album ever! 
Beatles For Sale was released on December 4, 1964 and soon topped UK charts on December 12.  It  remained on the charts for seven consecutive weeks. Later on February 27, 1965 the album was back on the charts and three further weeks from May 1, 1965.
In The US "Eight Days A Week" and " I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" were released as a single (Eight Days A Week being the A-side and "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" B- Side).
Beatles '65 was the US version of Beatles For Sale which was released on two separate Capitol albums. On December 15,1964 it was released with "No Reply", "I'm A Loser", "Baby's In Black", "Rock and Roll Music", "I'll Follow The Sun", "Mr. Moonlight", "Honey Don't", and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby". It also included the tracks "She's A Woman", "I'll Be Back", and "I Feel Fine".

The album was package in a gatefold sleeve, the first album of The Beatles like this. Impressed with Robert Freeman's photography from With The Beatles, they hired him again to take the front and back covers in London's Hyde Park. On the inside cover were sleeve notes of Derek Taylor and photos of The Beatles standing in front of a montage of photos at Twickenham Films Studio, and the group performing in Washington DC, February 11,1964.

"The album cover was rather nice: Robert Freeman's photos. It was easy. We did a session lasting a couple of hours and had some reasonable pictures to use. We showed up in Hyde Park by the Albert Memorial. I was quite impressed by George's hair there. He managed to create his little turnip top. The photographer would always be able to say to us, 'Just show up,' because we all wore the same kind of gear all the time. Black stuff; white shirts and big black scarves."- Paul McCartney
Beatles For Sale Fun Facts:
  • George's Carl Perkins cover, "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" was recorded in a single take on October 18,1964
  • No songs from Beatles For Sale was released as singles in the UK
  • The album was mixed within a half hour on October 27
  • The standalone single "I Feel Fine/ She's A Women" and The Beatles second fan club Christmas record were taped during these sessions. 
  • The Beatles had a number of arrangements for the intro of "Eight Days A Week" including a vocal harmony.
  • Beatles for Sale replaced A Hard Days Night in UK charts


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

RAM Reissued


Found a post from my old school blog, 2012. I wrote this on May 23, 2012 hope you enjoy.

As some may know Paul McCartney has reissued his and Linda McCartney's (Wife) beloved RAM album. RAM was released in May of 1971, also marking it as the only Paul McCartney album to be credit to a pair, being both Paul and his lovely wife Linda (More information about the quick background of RAM is located in between the following two videos). This album consists of many of Paul greatest hits including my favorites Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey and Another Day.


The tracks included are:

  • Too Many People- P.McCartney- 4:10
  • 3 Legs- P.McCartney-2:44
  • Ram On- P.McCartney-2:66
  • Dear Boy- P.McCartney/L.McCartney-2:12
  • Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey-P.McCartney/L.McCartney -4:49
  • Smile Away-P.McCartney-3:51
  • Heart Of The Country-P.McCartney/L.McCartney- 2:21
  • Monkberry Moon Delight-P.McCartney/L.McCartney-5:21
  • Eat At Home- P.McCartney/L.McCartney-3:18
  • Long Haired Lady -P.McCartney/L.McCartney-2:21
  • Ram On (Reprise) P.McCartney-0:52
  • The Back Seat of My Car-P.McCartney-4:26
Bonus Tracks on the 1993 Reissue
 

  • Another Day -P.McCartney/L.McCartney-3:41
  • Oh Woman, Oh Why-P.McCartney/L.McCartney-4:36

This Album was during the break up of The Beatles, do to the fact that The Beatles officially broke up in April 1970 but were legally binded together till 1977. As Paul McCartney was the first to officially leave the band he headed to his farm house in Scotland where he recorded his first Album, McCartney. McCartney was recorded and do to be released before The Beatles Let It Be, but since The Beatles break up wasn't official at the time McCartney had to be released a week or so after The Beatles Let It Be album was released to the public. RAM was marked as his second album as a solo artist, in this case as a pair.



RAM is now being reissued and can be bought now at http://store.paulmccartney.com/ram. This is being able to be purchase on Deluxe Collector's Edition Box Set, including the following;

  • 4 CDS- including 1977 'Thrillington' release
  • Bonus DVD
  • 112-page book
  • photo prints
  •  handwritten lyrics (and more all housed in a collector’s box)
  • plus CD, 2 CD Special Edition, Download and 180g 2LP Gatefold Vinyl.
Picture and Video(s):
  •  The first or Top picture can be easily defined as Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney's RAM album cover. 
  • The Video Below The Picture: The RAM trailer now being released. It goes into depth about the recording and making of RAM.--highly recommend if interested
  •  Last or Bottom video: Sir (James)Paul McCartney himself talking about RAM and it's new release. 
For more information about Paul McCartney's Reissued check out both Paul McCartney's Facebook page and Twitter  at Paul McCartney Facebook and Paul McCartney Twitter

I'd love to hear your inputs on the Album and videos.  Feel free to leave comments on your favorite video, or track on The McCartney's RAM. 

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Beatles World tour

June 4, 1964 George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Jimmie Nicol headed to Copenhagen, Denmark to start their world tour.
"It was very strange, them going off without me. They'd taken Jimmie Nicol and I thought they didn't love me any more - all that stuff went through my head. "-Ringo Starr, The Beatles Anthology

Ringo was absent during the first few concerts after collapsing during a photo session with Saturday Evening Post newspaper due to tonsillitis. University College Hospital took care of Ringo where his tonsils were removed. Starr later joined The Beatles on June 15 at Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia.
"In June 1964, the world tour began. We went to Scandinavia, Holland, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Ringo missed part of the tour because he was in hospital with tonsillitis. We couldn't cancel, so the idea was to get a stand-in. We got Jimmie Nicol, a session drummer from London. He played well - obviously not the same as Ringo, but he covered well."-Paul McCartney, The Beatles Anthology
 It was George Martin who suggested the 24 year old, Jimmie Nicol to fill in for Ringo. Nicol was a promising choice due to the fact George Martin had seen him recording for a session with Tommy Quickly and drummed on an album "Beatlemania" made of all Beatles covers so he knew how to play the songs.
"They nearly didn't do the Australia tour. George [Harrison] is a very loyal person, and he said, 'If Ringo's not part of the group, it's not The Beatles. I don't see why we should do it, and I'm not going to.' It took all of Brian's and my persuasion to tell George that if he didn't do it he was letting everybody down.
Jimmie Nicol was a very good drummer, who came along and learnt Ringo's parts well. Obviously, he had to rehearse with the guys. They came and worked through all the songs at Abbey Road so he got to know them. He did the job excellently, and faded into obscurity immediately afterwards."- George Martin, The Beatles Anthology
 Nicol played five concerts and a TV appearance, where the group mimed to their songs, while with The Beatles. The five concerts he performed at were; Denmark, Netherlands, Hong Kong, and two in Adelaide, Australia. After the group performed in Denmark they found themselves at the Royal Hotel where Paul sent a telegram to Ringo reading, "Didn't think we could miss you so much. Get well soon."

Ringo returned on June 14 while Jimmie left to Britain. Unable to say good bye to The Beatles due to them sleeping, he received a wristwatch with the engraving, "From The Beatles and Brian Epstein to Jimmy- with appreciation and gratitude."
"The boys were very kind but I felt like an intruder. They accepted me but you can't just go into a group like that - they have their own atmosphere, their own sense of humour. It's a little clique and outsiders just can't break in."-Jimmie Nicol

 From Melbourne all of The Beatles continued the tour stopping at Sydney, Australia; Wellington, New Zealand; Auckland, New Zealand; Dunedin, New Zealand; Christchurch, New Zealand; and ending the tour in Brisbane, Australia.

That summer the Beatles then started their UK and Sweden Summer tour followed by their first US Tour and kept touring till August 28,1966 were they played their last concert at Candlestick Park.

Dhani Harrison Gap Commerical

It was released yesterday, September 16, 2013 that Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison, will be featured in the new Gap commercial singing one of his father songs "For You Blue" featured on The Beatles Let It Be album.

It's been about four years since Gap last released an advertisement on TV, last one being Christmas 2009. They're theme for these commercials is Back to Blue and have not only a Beatles son performing in it, but Alexa Ray Joel,age 27, daughter of the great Billy Joel singing her version  of her dads "Just The Way Your Are"
"In almost any profession, even if you're the kid of an actor,people are very supportive and want to see the next generation"-Dhani Harrison
Dhani, age 35, has decided to follow in his fathers footsteps to become a musician. He is currently the front man of his own band, Thenewno2 with  Oliver Hecks, Janathan Sadoff, Jeremy Faccone, Nick Fyffe, Frank Zummo, and Aaron Older.
"I don't really plan to be a pop star; I just want to be able to make music without the whole My Dad thing hanging over me, which everyone in my position goes through."-Dhani Harrison
Both versions of their fathers songs, "Just The Way You Are" and "For You Blue" are available now on iTunes.
 All proceeds for "For You Blue" by Dhani Harrison will go to a foundation focusing on helping patients with spinal cord injuries, The George Harrison's Material World Foundation.

Monday, September 16, 2013

The Beatles Ed Sullivan Show preformances

"When The Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, even the criminals had a rest of ten minutes"- George Harrison
1964 was a big year for The Beatles, they released their first album with all original songs, A Hard Days Night; they had their world tour; and they started the British Invasion when landing at JFK International Airport on February 7, check out The Beatles landing in America here.

The iconic shouting of "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beatles!" by Ed Sullivan was heard for the first time on February 9, 1964 when over 40% of US citizens tuned in to see The Beatles perform their first performance on the Ed Sullivan Show at 8:00pm EST.

Before coming to the states the group had already released "I Want To Hold You Hand" to US radio stations across the country. It was soon that the single was number one on the Billboard charts within a month. The record selling 250,000 copies in the first three days and by January 10, 1964 had sold over one million! The hype for The Beatles America visit went viral in weeks before their arrival. Fans wearing Beatles wigs, buttons, buying bumper stickers saying 'The Beatles Are Coming". And when they arrived in New York in early February thousands of fans were there to meet them.

In New York George Harrison had gotten ill with a bad throat and was stuck in the Plaza Hotel, where he wrote "Don't Bother Me", while the other three paraded Central Park and then to The Ed Sullivan Show rehearsals.

"I had a bad throat and that's why I'm missing from the publicity shots in Central Park. There are pictures of just the three of them with the New York skyline behind. (The same with the rehearsal for Ed Sullivan: there are pictures of them rehearsing everywhere, with the mania going on, they actually did get out into the park for a photo session." - George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Brian Epstein, and Neil Aspinall attended the Ed Sullivan rehearsals.
"George had tonsillitis and didn't go to rehearsals for The Ed Sullivan Show. I stood in for him so that they could mark where everyone would stand, and I had a guitar strapped round me. It wasn't plugged in (nobody was playing anything) and it was amazing to read in a major American magazine a few days later that I 'played a mean guitar'.
 The Beatles recorded a set in the after noon, which was to be broadcast after they left, and then played a live Ed Sullivan Show that night." -Neil Aspinall, The Beatles Anthology
Before coming to the US The Beatles had to first conquer the United Kingdom which they did. In 1963, the group made an appearance on "Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium" and then released their first album Please Please Me, they even performed for the royal family. Once The Beatles made a success at home it was time for their debut in America. It was good timing to go into the states since they had already had a number one hit in the US with "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

There are numerous stories regarding how The Beatles got on The Ed Sullivan. One of the most popular one is in 1963 Ed Sullivan and wife Sylvia had landed in London's Heathrow Airport where they found a swarm of thousands of kids waiting in the rain. Ed questioned the commotion where they found out the fans were waited for the British band, The Beatles who were returning from a tour in Sweden. It was then he decided he wanted them on the show. Later it was decided between Ed Sullivan and Brian Epstein had come to an agreement at the Delmonico Hotel in New York City, where the two men shook hands and made the deal that The Beatles will play three shows in 1964 and will receive $10,000.

At 8:00pm EST it was recorded that 73 million people tuned in to The Beatles first live performance on US soil, about 45.3% of households with televisions at the time turned in to see the show. It was also recorded that the show garnered a 60 share, meaning 60% of the television's turned on were tuned in to the Ed Sullivan and The Beatles. It was even said that while the band was on the crime rate in the United States dropped dramatically!
"Now yesterday and today our theater's been jammed with newspapermen and hundreds of photographers from all over the nation, and these veterans agreed with me that this city never has witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool who call themselves The Beatles. Now tonight, you're gonna twice be entertained by them. Right now, and again in the second half of our show. Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles! Let's bring them on."
One of the most iconic introductions in television history. The  cameras were turned to The Beatles were they opened with "All My Loving". Fans shrieking with ear piercing screams filled with audience while The Beatles finished their first song and into the next from their album "With The Beatles" released in the UK, "Till There Was You", where they were introduced. As the camera cut to each band member their names were printed on the screen, starting with Paul McCartney and working to George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and to John Lennon where the caption below his name read, "SORRY GIRLS, HE'S MARRIED." The Beatles played one more song, "She Loves You" before heading to commercial break. After break and a few other acts The Beatles came back to perform two more songs, " I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

“Nobody realized the impact to come, how momentous it would be. We didn’t talk about making history. It was more like, ‘What are we going to do next week? Not only are we doing this again, we’re on location.’”  - Ed Sullivan Assistant Director, John Moffitt

The following week, February 16, The Beatles were back on Ed Sullivan except this time at Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.  It can be heard during the show before the band came on Ed saying " And now, here are- (a beat)- The Beatles right after this", having to cut to a commercial break due to The Beatles being delayed from fans trapping them in the ballroom. The Beatles arrived on stage and due to technical difficulties of the microphone not working the band wailed through "She Loves You", "This Boy", and "All My Loving".  After a few commercial breaks and performers like Mitzi Gaynor, Allen and Rossi, The Nerveless Knocks, and monologist Myron Cohen The Beatles came out to close the show with three more songs. They performed, "I Saw Her Standing There", "From Me To You", "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Ed called them over and thanks the band.

One week later The Beatles performed their third and last, according to the contract, performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. What made their final performance different from the rest was that it was really their first. The show was taped prior to their performance on February 9th, and was saved for February 23rd. During this performance The Beatles played "Twist and Shout", "Please Please Me", and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Other performers from this show included, Dave Barry the comedian, Gordan and Sheila MacRae, and American jazz singer Cab Calloway.

"They're wild, they're all wild. They just all seen out of their minds. I've never seen anything like it in my life. We just walk through it like watching a film. You feel as though it's something that's happening to somebody else, especially when you spot George and you think, 'Oh, that's George with all those people climbing all over him.'"- John Lennon

The February 23rd show ended The Beatles and Ed Sullivan Show contract for 1964. The Beatles then returned to the show on September 12, 1965. "I Feel Fine" "I'm Down", "Act Naturally", "Ticket To Ride" "Yesterday" and "Help!" were all performed on this show. Like the third performance, the show was taped in New York earlier on August 14, 1965. It was taped prior due to The Beatles North America Tour.



Although The Beatles never performed on The Ed Sullivan Show since the show aired on September 12, 1965 they did release their videos for "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" that were first shown on The Ed Sullivan Show.




The Beatles performed 20 Beatles songs- 7 that became Number One hits and had their shows attracting an audience of about a quarter of a billion people! And to this day the first two shows remain the highest viewed regularly scheduled television programs of all time!
The Beatles success in the US paved the way for Rock 'n' Roll and the British Invasion which started it all for The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and much more.  These four performances started a revolution that will never be able to be duplicated.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Octopus's Garden


It's no secret that Ringo loves working with kids, having  a part in Thomas the Train for two years (1984-1986). This August it was announced that Ringo Starr is coming out with a new book, Octopus's Garden.
Octopus's Garden is a children's book that will be released this coming October. You can pre-order it here (UK), there are no links yet for non UK residents but you should be able to pre-order the book at Amazon or a local retail outlets.

It was earlier this year that Simon & Schuster publishing company asked Ringo for the rights to turn a familiar Beatles song into a picture book, Starr gave the company permission. Not much has been released about the book yet.

"It gives me great pleasure to collaborate with Ben Cort and Simon & Schuster for the further adventures of Octopus's Garden. Peace and Love."-Ringo Starr

The picture book is illustrated by Ben Cort and will be released with a CD of Ringo reading the story and an orginal, un-heard recording of The Beatles "Octopus's Garden" by Ringo himself.

Here's an exclusive look at the artwork from the forthcoming picture book of Octopus's Garden – publishing this October, the song will be brought to life by illustrator Ben Cort and published with a CD of Ringo reading the story and an original, previously unheard recording of the song by Ringo.
Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/the-beatles/72290#oF8OTAUsJywDKlYP.99
 "Here's an exclusive look at the artwork from the forthcoming picture book of Octopus's Garden - publishing this October, the song will be brought to life by illustrator Ben Cort and published with a CD of Ringo reading the story and an original, previously unheard recording of the song by Ringo."

Here's an exclusive look at the artwork from the forthcoming picture book of Octopus's Garden – publishing this October, the song will be brought to life by illustrator Ben Cort and published with a CD of Ringo reading the story and an original, previously unheard recording of the song by Ringo.
Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/the-beatles/72290#oF8OTAUsJywDKlYP.99
Here's an exclusive look at the artwork from the forthcoming picture book of Octopus's Garden – publishing this October, the song will be brought to life by illustrator Ben Cort and published with a CD of Ringo reading the story and an original, previously unheard recording of the song by Ringo.
Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/the-beatles/72290#oF8OTAUsJywDKlYP.99

A Hard Days Night


A Hard Days Night was released July 10, 1964 making it The Beatles third album and the first album with all original material and consist solely of songs written by Lennon-McCartney.  The album has a total of 13 tracks;
  • A Hard Days Night
  • I Should Have Known Better
  • If I Fell
  • I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
  • And I Love Her
  •  Tell Me Why
  • Can't Buy Me Love
  • Any Time At All
  • I'll Cry Instead
  • Things We Said Today
  • When I Get Home
  • You Can't Do That
  • I'll Be Back
The album featured John Lennon on vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, and tambourine; Paul McCartney doing vocals, bass guitar, piano, and cowbell; George Harrison on vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and claves; and Ringo Starr on drums, conga, bongos, and tambourine; and George Martin on piano.It is one of the few albums that Ringo does not sing (Ringo doesn't sing on Magical Mystery Tour and Let It Be) .

The Name "A Hard Days Night" came from Ringo Starr and appeared in John's In His Own Write, "Sad Michael".

"When we knew we were writing for something like an album [John] would write a few in his spare moments, like this batch here. He'd bring them in, we'd check 'em. I'd write a couple and we'd throw 'em at each other, and then there would be a couple that were more co-written. But you just had a certain amount of time. You knew when the recording date was and so a week or two before then we'd get into it.
It didn't seem like pressure. It was - I suppose you'd have to think it was but I don't remember it being a pressure. It was fun, it was great. I always liken songwriting to a conjurer pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Now you see it, now you don't. If I now pick up a guitar and start to conjure something out of the air, there's a great magic about it. Where there was nothing, now there is something. Where there was a white sheet of paper, there's a page we can read. Where there was no tune and no lyrics, there's now a song we can sing! That aspect of it made it a lot of fun. We'd be amazed to see what kind of rabbit we'd pulled out that day."- Paul McCartney

The first song recorded for the album was "Can't Buy Me Love" which was recorded on January 29, 1964 at EMI's Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris.  The song was taped in four takes and become the follow-up to I Want To Hold Your Hand when released as a single on March 20, 1964 in the UK.
"The very first records we made were mono, though I did have stereo facilities. To make mixing easier I would keep the voices separate from the backing, so I used a stereo machine as a twin-track. Not with the idea of stereo - merely to give myself a little bit more flexibility in remixing into a mono. So the first year's recordings were made on just two tracks and were live; like doing broadcasts. With the great advance of four-track we were able to overdub and put on secondary voices and guitar solos afterwards. By the time we did A Hard Day's Night we would certainly put the basic track down and do the vocals afterwards. Invariably, I was putting all the rhythm instruments onto either one or two tracks (generally one track) so you would have bass lumped with guitar. It wasn't until later still that we began putting bass on afterwards as well, giving Paul the opportunity of using his voice more."-George Martin
 During the absence of The Beatles due to making their first film, A Hard Day's Night, and their world tour George Martin worked on the recordings by editing and mixing with EMI studio engineers and adding piano part to "You Can't' Do That". The album was completely finished on June 22.

The album had advance orders of over 250,000 in the UK and by the end of 1964 sold 600,000 copies. More than a million advance orders were made for the US release and within 2 months A Hard Days Night sold million copies making it one of the fastest- selling albums of all time. It spent 21 consecutive weeks as number one on UK charts from July 25, 1964 and remained on the charts for 38 weeks. In The US it topped US Billboard album charts for 14 weeks, the longest time any album stayed on the charts that year. A Hard Days Night topped US and UK single and album charts simultaneously on August 5, 1964, the only time that has ever happened.
"We were different. We were older. We knew each other on all kinds of levels that we didn't when we were teenagers. The early stuff - the Hard Day's Night period, I call it - was the sexual equivalent of the beginning hysteria of a relationship. And the Sgt Pepper-Abbey Road period was the mature part of the relationship."- John Lennon, 1980

A Hard Days Night Fun Facts:
  • January 29, 1964 they started recorded A Hard Days Night with the first song "Can't Buy Me Love". They booked Pathe Marconi Studios for a daytime session to record  German-language versions of She Loves You and I Want To Hold You Hand but had free time, and recorded they're first song for the album
  •  It's said that The Beatles intended to have a 14th song on the album but Ringo Starr had gotten ill with tonsillitis and pharyngitis during a photo session the morning they were going to record. 
  • The Opening chord for "A Hard Days Night" was an Fadd9 for guitar (Rickenbacker 200/12 guitar played by George) and D note played on the 12th fret on the D string played by Paul on his Hofner violin bass. 
  • "You Know What To Do", "No Reply", and "It's For You" were recorded during this time period.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Beatles Live at BBC Volume 2

Live At The BBC Volume 2
On November 30, 1994 BBC released a compilation album from the various Beatles performances at the BBC between March of 1962 to June of 1964. The Live At BBC album reached charts when released in 1994 having a sale price of about five million copies sold world wide in six weeks.
Previously it was released that The Beatles Live At BBC Volume 2 will be released this November 11.
The Beatles played a huge catalougue of songs across 275 performances in the varying four years they preformed at the BBC. The new album will consist of early hits and covers (including takes from Pop Go The Beatles series in 1963 where they're recorded 18 songs for three editions in one day- session lasting less than seven hours; "Lucille" and "The Hippy Hippy Shake"), it will also include some new versions of songs from Volume 1 and interviews from November of 1965 and May 1966 for the BBC Pop Profile series. Paul McCartney remembers the performances at the BBC as,
“There’s a lot of energy and spirit,...We are going for it, not holding back at all, trying to put in the best performance of our lifetimes.”
 Volume 2 will have a total of 63 tracks on 2 CDs including 37 unreleased song performances and 23 unreleased tracks.
“Everything was done instantly,” George Harrison recalls,
 “But before that, we used to drive 200 miles in an old van down the M1 [highway], come into London, try and find the BBC and then set up and do the program. Then we’d probably drive back to Newcastle for a gig in the evening!”
The album will feature 40 performances of BBC Radio Broadcast of  The Beatles and will be issued at the same day as Volume 1 is due to be released with a remastered version. You can pre-order your copy of Volume 2 at any of the following;
  • UK Store: Here
  • USA Store: Here
  • Japan Store: Here
  • Brazil Store: Here
  • If you're country is not listed find your local retailer: Here


 “You tend to forget that we were a working band…. There were usually no overdubs.  We were in at the count-in and that was it. I get excited listening to them.” -Ringo Starr

Paul McCartney releasing the tracklisting for NEW


 Yesterday, September 13, 2013, Paul McCartney released the tracklisting for his new album, NEW which will be available on October 14(UK) or 15(US), to read more about his album check it out here.

NEW consists of 12 new tracks produced by Paul Epworth, Mark Ronson, Giles Martin, and Ethan Johns and was mixed by Mark 'Spike' Stent.
"The original idea was to go to a couple of producers whose work I loved, to see who I got on with best - but it turned out I got on with all of them! We made something really different with each producer, so I couldn't choose and ended up working with all four. We just had a good time in different ways."
The tracks are;
Photo credit to Mary McCartney
  1.  Save Us (produced by Paul Epworth)
  2. Alligator (produced by Mark Ronson)
  3. On My Way to Work (produced by Giles Martin)
  4. Queenie Eye (produced by Paul Epworth)
  5. Early Days (produced by Ethan Johns)
  6. New (produced by Mark Ronson)
  7. Appreciate (produced by Giles Martin)
  8. Everybody Out There (produced by Giles Martin) 
  9. Hosanna (produced by Ethan Johns)
  10. I Can Bet (produced by Giles Martin)
  11. Looking At Her (produced by Giles Martin)
  12. Road (produced by Giles Martin)
 Making a total running time of 46 minutes and 11 seconds.

NEW was recorded in various studios; Henson Recording Studios, LA; Avatar Studios, New York; Abbey Road Studios, London; Air Studios, London; Wolf Tone Studios, London and Hog Hill Mill, East Sussex.

You can pre-order the album at Amazon and iTunes here;
Amazon- Here
iTunes- Here


"It's funny, when I play people the album they're surprised it's me. A lot of the tracks are quite varied and not necessarily in a style you'd recognise as mine. I didn't want it to all sound the same. I really enjoyed making this album. It's always great to get a chance to get into the studio with a bunch of new songs and I was lucky to work with some very cool producers. We had a lot of fun."

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The Love We Make

This is my right
A right given by god
to live a free life
To Live In Freedom
September 11, 2001 will be remembered for generations to come due to the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. It was on this awful date that four planes were high jacked killing thousands of people and crashing into the World Trade Center. God bless the family and friends who have lost a loved one in this awful event.

Paul McCartney was in New York on September 11, 2001 to celebrate his daughter, Stella's 30th birthday (born September 2). Paul was on the tarmac at JFK International Airport when the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. All planes were ordered to be grounded leaving Paul's plane to go back to the gate keeping him in the city.
"Because I was here in America on September 11, I just started thinking: people are going to feel vulnerable for the first time in a long time, what can I do?"
He goes on saying how he couldn't go down to Ground Zero because he wasn't a firefighter but instead he did what McCartney's known to do and took with unfortunate event  he decide to make awareness of it all by making a film "The Love We Make" with Elton John, David Bowie, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, and Mick Jagger for a benefit concert on October 20, 2001.
McCartney took this situation into personal connections being born during World War II,
"I grew up in the shadow of world war II, I saw how they dealt with it, and it was with humour and it was with music."

 "The Love We Make" was released on the 10th year anniversary of 9/11. The film was directed by Bradley Kaplan and Albery Maysles. Maysles was known as Idlewild in 1964 and was the one who captured The Beatles landing at JFK airport on their way to Ed Sullivan Show.

The film includes (in alphabetical order);
  • Rusty Anderson
  • Backstreet Boys
  • Jon Bon Jovi
  • David Bowie
  • Steve Buscemi
  • Jim Carrey
  • Eric Clapton
  • Bill Clinton
  • Sheryl Crow
  • Billy Crystal
  • Destiny's Child
  • Leonardo DiCaprio
  • Melissa Etheridge
  • Jimmy Fallon
  • Will Ferrell
  • Harrison Ford
  • Micheal J. Fox
  • Buddy Guy
  • Salma Hayek
  • Mick Jagger
  • Jay-Z
  • Billy Joel
  • Elton John
  • Kid Rock
  • Abe Laboriel Jr.
  • Paul McCartney
  • Stella McCartney
  • George Pataki
  • Dan Rather
  • Brian Ray
  • Keith Richards
  • Richie Sambora
  • Paul Shaffer
  • Howard Stern
  • James Taylor
  • Barbara Walter
  • Harvey Weinstein
  • The Who
  • Paul Wickens
Paul preformed on stage at Madison Square Garden wearing an FDNY T-shirt and sang "Yesterday" and other classics in front of hundreds of police officers and firefighters who had lost a loved one just weeks before the concert.
I'm talking about freedom
I'm talking about freedom
We will fight, for the right
To live in freedom



Paul McCartney on Ringo Starr

"Without his drumming, Forget it! It wouldn't be The Beatles"-Paul McCartney

 It's no shock that John Lennon and Paul McCartney are known as "The Leaders" of The Beatles, and it's no shock that George Harrison has made a profound name for himself with his music career in The Beatles, solo work, and with The Traveling Wilbury's but it's unfortunate that Ringo Starr doesn't get the amount of credit he deserves. Maybe it's because Ringo wasn't the original drummer, replacing Pete Best in 1962. Or maybe because he didn't start writing his own material till The Beatles (White Album) with "Don't Pass Me By", or it could be that he was always in the back on stage for the drum positions while John, Paul, and George were in the front. And those people are pure idiots to think of Ringo that way, he was one of the members and is as far as I'm concerned the best drummer in the world. 

On August 16,1962 Beatles manager, Brian Epstein approached Ringo and asked him to join the band. Ringo didn't respond till August 18,1962 when he filled the position of the new Beatles drummer. Firing Pete Best and hiring Ringo, coming from competing band "Rory Storm and the Hurricanes" , didn't start out as well having some of the audience shouting "Pete is Best!" and "Ringo Never, Pete Best forever!". George Harrison recalled one night of playing and the crowd,
"However, after bout half an hour it was getting a bit tiring so I shouted to the audience. when we stepped out of the band room into the dark tunnel, some guy nodded me one, giving me a black eye. The things we have t o do for Ringo!"-George Harrison

 "Ringo was a professional drummer who sang and performed, so his talents would have come out one way or the other. I don't know what he would have ended up- what ever that spark is in Ringo, we all know it but we cant put our finger on it. There's something in him that's projectable and he would have surfaced as an individual."-John Lennon

And after all wasn't it Ringo who came up with the expression "A Hard Days Night"and "8 Days A Week"! Without Ringo Starr there would be no Beatles, it's like George Harrison said once,
"How many Beatles does it take to change a light bulb? four."
Once they got the fourth Beatle it was all history.  Ringo has had an amazing impact on this world in both music and pop culture and will forever be remembered as the greatest drummer of all time. 

During Paul's "Out There" tour he had the chance to talk to Nesta Matthews from Winnipeg where he says;
 "I think Ringo gets that reputation because he wasn’t one of the songwriters, and he was only an occasional singer in the group. It was mainly me and John, and then later George. He got a sort of secondary role. But I say to people: Every single member of the Beatles was just as important as the other. I liken it to four side of a square. Without one of them, it falls apart.”
During the phone interview he continues on his wonderful friend and drummer.
“He was very sort of vocal. He would tell us what he wanted, what he liked, And we always had this rule: If one of us didn’t like a song we were doing, it got chucked out. So we always had a very equal vote. And the whole spirit of Ringo was very important to the Beatles — and let’s not forget his drumming. He’s one of the best drummers in the world, you know? His drummer on the Beatles is very original. It made the group’s sound what it was.”
 Find the rest of the interview here.

Ringo and Paul have worked together on several situations including Ringo's solo work like 1973's Ringo, 1998's Vertical Man, and Ringo's 2010 Y Not. Ringo has also worked on Paul's tracks like 1982's Tug of War, 1997's Flaming Pie, Ringo can be seen on the video for "Wanderlust" and much more. Featured below; Ringo Starr's "When I Walk With You" from Y Not and "The Medley" from Give My Regards To Broad Street.